Liv felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice cubes into her belly but she nodded anyway. “I’ll do my best even though I don’t know your techniques.”
“You can consider this on the job training.” Sylvan pulled her out the door.
So began the most frantic two days of Liv’s life. It was like nursing school all over again but in fast forward and there was no room for mistakes. Previously she’d only seen the leisure side of the Kindred ship. Now she saw the business side and their main business was war. The large med station where Sylvan had her working was constantly busy, the flow of patients in and out as steady as clockwork.
Liv was run off her feet as she assisted in various operations and learned the alien medical technology. Luckily, the Kindred anatomy was basically humanoid so it wasn’t like she was starting from scratch. And she was doing what she loved best—helping to save lives. If it hadn’t been for the constant worry at the back of her head for Baird, she would have been completely content. But no matter how busy she got or how frantic the pace, she couldn’t forget—didn’t want to forget—what he was going through and that she might not ever see him again. Still, she was grateful for the distraction. Even with Bebo to keep her company she knew she would have gone crazy cooped up in the suite with nothing to do but agonize over the situation.
It was at the end of the second day, or maybe the wee hours of the third, Liv had lost count, that a new patient was pushed in front of her. Or maybe floated was a better word since the Kindred used anti-grav technology in their stretchers.
“Gotta live one but he’s non-responsive,” the transport tech, who happened to be a Tranq, barked.
“Injuries?” Liv asked briskly, looking down at the new view-chart bracelet she was priming. Once she put it on him it would document all his treatment and meds automatically. It was one piece of technology she wished she could take back to Earth because it completely eliminated any confusion as to what had been done to the patient and when.
The tech shrugged. “None that we can see, actually, but as I said, he’s completely out of it. Word is he piloted a bunch of wounded here in a stolen Scourge ship and then blacked out.”
“He did, did h—” Liv lost her power of speech abruptly when she finally glanced up and got a look at her new patient’s face. Suddenly everything seemed to swim before her eyes and she felt weak. She stumbled and almost fell, only catching herself at the last minute by grabbing the edge of the floating stretcher. It can’t be him. What is he doing here?
“Hey, are you all right?” The transport tech came around the stretcher to take her arm. “I see you in here every time I come. How long have you been on your feet? You must be exhausted.”
She waved him off. “No, it’s not that. I just…” Is it really him? What if I’m so tired I’m hallucinating because I want to see him so much? The male on the stretcher certainly looked like Baird but when she leaned down close to him, she couldn’t smell the warm, spicy scent she’d come to associate with him. And though his eyes were open they weren’t the brilliant gold she remembered—more of a tarnished brass. Was it really Baird or another Beast Kindred who just looked like him? Liv hadn’t realized how much she depended on his scent to recognize him and as exhausted as she was, she didn’t feel like she could trust her eyes alone. She needed a second opinion. “Tech, I need Commander Sylvan here to look at this patient now.” she said, looking up from her examination.
The tech caught the urgency in her tone and went looking for Sylvan at once. He soon returned, dragging him by the arm.
“What’s this about? I was in the middle of a very delicate—Baird!” Sylvan leaned over his half brother’s supine form, his eyes wide with surprise. “How did he get here?”
Liv repeated the transport tech’s story about Baird piloting a stolen ship and then collapsing. “Do you think he’s just in shock?” she asked hopefully.
“I don’t know.” Sylvan leaned down to shine a thin beam of light into Baird’s eyes. “The pupils are responsive but he doesn’t seem to be seeing me.” He looked up at the tech. “You’re sure about what you heard? He actually piloted a ship?”
The tech nodded. “Sure. Some of the other guys said they couldn’t have escaped without him—none of them knew how to fly but him.” He nodded at the silent Baird.
“That’s good, right?” Liv asked anxiously. “I mean, that’s great! He shouldn’t have been able to do that after what the…after what he went through. So he must be still all right—still in there, somewhere.”